If only this were an April Fools joke. As part of “spring cleaning,” the clergy of a parish in Gdańsk asked their faithful to bring objects “linked to the occult and magic” to a bonfire after Mass on Sunday. They brought books from the popular children’s series about student magicians and the young adult romance series about a chaste vampire — as well as (among other items) a Hindu figurine and a Hello Kitty umbrella. – Yahoo! (AFP)
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Oppress This, Jair! Brazilian Theatermakers Resist Bolsonaro By Getting Naked
At least that’s what they’ve been doing at the International Theater Exposition of São Paulo, which is “squaring up to an era of right-wing populism with a celebration of otherness, difference and resistance. More often than not, this resistance manifests itself in the naked body. In show after show, nudity takes on a political role.” – The Guardian
Richest Man In Hong Kong Spent Nearly $400M To Build City’s First Museum Of Buddhist Art
Li Ka-shing, 90, renovated an old hilltop monastery to house the collection of 100 devotional sculptures and 43 handwritten scriptures. While construction was completed in 2015, the museum’s inauguration was held on March 27, and it will begin welcoming the public free of charge on May 1. – Artnet
Short Story Vending Machines Arrive In London
The French company Short Edition has already placed machines that will print out a free short story on request at various locations around France and the U.S. Now three of the devices are being installed at Canary Wharf to serve commuters there. – The Guardian
Constantine Orbelian Fired As General Director Of Armenia’s National Opera House
The Armenian-American maestro, a three-time Grammy nominee (he conducted Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s final album, Russia Cast Adrift), was named artistic director of the theater in Yerevan in 2016 and was given the additional job of general director the following year. The new culture minister dismissed him from the latter post, saying that it is against Armenian law for one person to hold both titles. Musicians and staff, who say Orbelian has raised standards there, are protesting. – Panaorama (Armenia)
Sing-A-Long Musicals Are Becoming A Thing
Of course, in your traditional theatre experience, you go to listen to the performers. But just as audiences have been joining in for showings of Rocky Picture Horror and Sound of Music, they’re now coming to musicals to join in with the cast singing. So what’s the appeal? – The Guardian
To Celebrate April Fool’s Day: A List Of Famous Literary Hoaxes
So what makes a good literary hoax? Well the world needs to be sucked into believing it of course. And that means of course that you don’t know the fraud until the deception has been revealed. Tragedy (usually for the hoaxer) ensues. Is there a common thread through these examples? – The New York Times
LA Times Restaurant Critic’s Fabulous April 1 Takedown Of NY Restaurants
In Los Angeles, we’re spoiled by the breadth and quality of our dining options. In addition to outstanding year-round produce, I can get great huaraches, refreshing mul naengmyeon and impeccable chả giò within 15 minutes of where I live. But what about New York, a largely culturally bereft island that sits curiously between the Hudson and East Rivers at the foot of the Catskill Mountains? Sure, we’ve all heard of hotdogs, a staple of every New Yorker’s diet, famously gnawed on by rodent and human alike in that “toddling town.” – Los Angeles Times
In Search Of “Normal” (It’s Become A Festering Battleground)
“Normality” took a battering in the second half of the 20th century. Lots of people were angry about it and did their level best either to tear it down or render it definitively gauche. Who wanted to be normal? Normies were dull. Hammering the normies and transgression for the sake of transgression became a thing and is still a thing. Except, as Irish commentator Angela Nagle observes, it’s become an end in itself, at once “negative, nasty, and nihilistic”. Now it lives online in festering cesspools frequented by people who have no idea (and whose absence of ideas is not their fault) but who need rules and want normality. – Standpoint
Study: Canadian Artists Make Less Than Average Workers – Way Less
The median individual income of Canada’s artists is $23,100, or 45 per cent less than all Canadian workers ($41,900). A typical artist has employment income of just $15,000, a figure that is 59 per cent lower than the median of all workers ($36,700). That’s from a workforce of almost 800,000 people in Canada who work in cultural industries, which would also include librarians and archivists, graphic designers, editors and architects. – Toronto Star